Uh, Oh. Mass Effect DLC on Disc. Seriously, Bioware?

Uh, oh. This is something you’ve got to see. If true, I want answers.

Now, some of you think I gave Bioware a pass on its day 1 DLC, but gave Capcom shit for its DLC practices; this is not true. I specifically stated day 1 DLC is dangerous, especially if it’s content you must pay for on top of the $60. In effect, you would have to pay a total of $70 if you don’t want an empty area on your ship and if you want to experience the full story behind the Protheans—something that could have easily been in the retail version.

I even stated in my Fartin’ Around: Happy Action Theater video that the From Ashes DLC is not worth it. You are essentially getting thirty minutes of mission and maybe 3-4 conversation cut-scenes with the extra character for $10. No, thanks.

If the above is true, that makes this even worse and something I’m going to have to revise my current in-production Mass Effect 3 review with. Seriously, Bioware? Did you not think anyone would check? What the f*ck is this sh*t!? I’m telling you, this practice of already on the disc DLC is WRONG!

lljkceski even gives instructions on how to do so:

“Definitive proof that the “From Ashes” DLC character is on the disc:
1. Open Coalesced.bin with this http://wenchy.net/me3-coalesced-utility

That’s it. Javik the Prothean is now unlocked. “From Ashes” not required.” -lljkceski

What do you guys think? Should this effect the overall score? Or should the score of the game be unaffected and instead this be discussed as an aside?

I’m not going to accept the company line “We have already made a statement on the matter,” especially in light of new evidence. If I go to E3, I’ll try to get a statement in an interview as I’m sure any email to Bioware will be met with the same BS non-response.

*Update: I remember downloading the From Ashes DLC on my Xbox at 650mb. So thats got to be some sort of real content download. The video above applies to the PC Version.

*Update #2: PC players are reporting the download was similar in size. Perhaps this poster has it all wrong. If its a download of that size you couldnt possibly unlock the character and have everything working just fine.

Big Thanks to all of you who sent me this and to lljkceski for the well produced video!

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I hope you’re not serious about that. Bad sales practices and stupid back alley game politics shouldn’t hinder the score the game itself because it has to do WITH the gameplay, just the game’s history.

The game itself is perfectly fine, even without the DLC. It biggest obvious problem is the Ending, which will cost this game points. I’m seeing between a 7-8 out of 10.

hahaha let’s remember kids: According to BioWare, changing a short string in a .ini file is now “hacking”.

Between the crap ending, From Ashes scandal, tons of milking DLC (seriously, Razer and Figures DLC?), Dragon Age 2, Jersery Shore, Jennifer “Hamburger” Hepler’s comments, Jessica Chobot (Epic… Epic for the win!) and the general BioWare attitude lately, this is one studio I won’t be picking up another game from. It’s hard to believe that these are the same people that gave my beloved Baldurs Gate games

On the disc or not doesn’t matter. It’s day 1 extra content that is story essential, and you have to pay extra 10 $ / 7 € for it. And that sucks.

If it is available on day 1, it must have passed all the QA testings at Microsoft, Sony, EA and BioWare by then. So it must have been completed long before that, and therefore there is no excuse why it shouldn’t be on the retail edition right away.

On some sunny day, when there will be a complete edition with all DLCs and patches for under 30 bucks, I’ll go and buy ME3. And – not – one – day – before – that – happens.

Please re-read that first sentence, Javik is the ME3 version of Zaeed with more dialogue, he’s completely optional you only get one or two little cutscenes with him actually doing things in game with people, he has literally ZERO significance event wise in the story, nor does he change any core values in the game such as the ending or an important event in the main quest. The only thing Javik is “important” to is the Codex and the “OH SHIT A LIVING PROTEHAN” factor……

I agree that the games score should be seperated from this particular matter. I do like the idea of the Coprate Commander Seal of Cash Grabbery though. However, I do have another concern I would like to see addressed. I haven’t yet played much of the game myself so I am not sure if this is true but I would appriciate it if someone could confirm or deny.

There is a state called galactic readiness. Apparently how much of this you have depends on your chances for survival or how well you do at game end. The only way to achieve high galactic readiness is to play multi-player (which you have to buy for $10 if you are playing the game you bought for your son since he used the multi-player code, but I digress). Is this true? How well I do in the game is no longer a matter of how well I play the game but whether or not I play multi-player? If so, this bites and that should be reflected in the
games score. What happened to just playing a game fo the experience and

You are indeed correct. You have 3 stats concerning your war assets, total military strength, readiness rating, and effective military strength. TMS is the total amount of war assets that you’ve collected. Readiness rating, which is at 50% if you’ve never played multiplayer, is a modifier applied to your TMS to calculate you EMS(effective military strength). So a TMS of 5,000 points with a readiness of 50% will yield you 2,500 points of EMS. The ending options will be decided by your EMS during the final battle. It is almost impossible to reach 4000+ EMS, which is the “best” ending through singleplayer alone.

i’ve pc version and DLC was over 600 mb of content (not sure the exact size but bit approx…)

this download was AFTER the game content not WITHIN ! yes there is entries on the main game but mostly was just a setup for (path ready and open for new content).

dlc day 1 can be an issue but ONLY this is matters for the game, on this case this dlc isn’t important for the main story, its just like an extra information if you want it. but if it was a main part of the plot and needed to make sense then all the fuss over it would make sense.

yes you can unlock the character but you’ll miss the whole thing, you just get a squad mate and thats it if you just get workaround.

if you want good examples of download and pay to unlock later, you’ve battlefield 3 where you download a massive 2-3gb (depending on each platform) and also Total War games since empire total war where everybody is required to download dlc’s and all you pay its an unlock.

resuming, you can unlock character but you miss:

the whole new mission (30-45min)
the whole new diologues (this will provide you ALOT of info about protheans)
the whole cutscenes

not defending bioware (god forgive them for the awful dragon age 2), but you need to dowload the content and not pay to UNLOCK content already on your disk a-lá battlefield3,shogun2 …etc etc

I’m okay with Day 1 DLC. I’m okay with Day 1 DLC that’s not free. If it’s the only way to get cut content into the game or if it’s completely new content created apart from the game’s main development, that’s fine. What Bioware is saying is that they had to add parts of the DLC to the disc in order for it to fit into the game. At that point, the DLC isn’t being developed separately from the main game anymore. DLC should never unlock access to content that is already on the disc, but that is unusable without the DLC.

I still think it’s a disservice. It should affect the score in some way, maybe not for witholding conetent, but because they LIED to us. The PROTHEAN itself
was part of the DLC. If they had to put him on the disk so the game would play it, they should just have the mission on the disk already. or at least a free day one DLC. EA is pushing our limits from what we will accept and gave us a game of lesser quality then the last two on a technical level. You can argue the story is good, that’s a matter of opinion. But let me say something for you. The MAIN Choices didn’t matter. SOME of them mattered, but it’s FAR from what was promised. Don’t listen to the 9 and 10 being throwed around. It’s a good game but far from the best ones.

I think the DLC added a whole lot of context to the game that would have been absent without it. I’m not sure what to think about it being on the disc or not, since I have no expertise that can help me confirm or deny it. I do think that it would be really stupid on BioWare’s/EA’s part to make a statement about it that could be so easily disproven. If the PC version was a downloaded copy, then that might make sense. I don’t really know.

As for the review, I recall something you did in your StarCraft II review, I believe it was. You gave it one primary score for what it was like on its own merits, as it was, but then gave it a separate, slightly lower score when taking into account some of the online stuff that made it a bit disappointing. I’d advise doing something similar here: a regular score that takes into account the full game as it is (whether that includes the DLC or not, I don’t know), and then maybe a separate score taking into account the business practices of the company. Either way, I’d do a bit more investigating to get to the truth of the matter.

I hope this helps. And let me just say thank you for doing all that you do on this site. Your reviews are very insightful and are a joy to watch. Bravo, good sir. Bravo.

I don’t mind day one DLC if it adds something special to the game, but isn’t necessary to complete it. Like when they have a collectors edition with special weapons or extra missions. Giving the rest of us the ability download those items without having to buy a full special edition is a good thing.

Putting it on the disc is kind of a dick move though. If we already have the DLC, why are we paying extra for it?

My real complaint about this game is how I have to keep swapping discs. Why must I go back and forth between the two discs? It’s ridiculous!

I think the missions are unlocked with dlc it seems the character is kind of allready in the game. The game is nothing 2 worry about because it was realy good , but the ending and that the dlc wasnt worth it especially the ending for christ sake make some ending where ur fing decitions mater. Why did i play countles hours of ME 1 and ME 2. To get all my decitions into ME 3 just 2 have THEM THREWN INTO UR FACE IN THE END.

The download gives you access to the mission and most of the ciniematic cutscenes and dialogue stuff. The Character model and animations are on the disc. Its something to do with integrating new characters with the character selection screen.

Apparently they did the same thing with Zaeed and Katsummi in ME2 but no-one called them on it. I think this requires a seperate video because IMO ME3 was a great game (until the last 5 minutes which sucked, @RetakeMassEffect) and it should be reported as such but Bioware and EA need to be called on these shoddy business practices.

What I did was buy my PC Origin key from a 3rd party web store, got it way cheaper than in a retail store or Origin. Then I bought the DLC for ~6 euros and the whole thing cost me less than the normal copy in Origin.

Dancing around this bullshit is the only way to get the full experience if they aren’t going to listen to consumers.

Of course this must be way harder, if not impossible, for those who mainly or only play on consoles.

I can´t fucking belive this. What is wrong with this game designers? Do they really thing fans wouldnt find out this stuff? Or they just dont care because there enough people ot there who still buy that stuff.

I think at this point, things like this should start effecting the scores. Especially since companies are currently lying about doing it. When I buy a game, who made it is definitely a major factor. When I was a kid, I refused to buy any game from LJN and now as an adult I refuse to buy Capcom and BioWare games.

Adjust the score for their bulls&^#, and start to take them to task for nonsense like this!

I think your past decisions did matter. The course of the game during a number of missions would have changed a lot for me if I had made different choices. I don’t know if they ever said that the ending of the entire trilogy would be affected by your choices, but some key moments throughout the game were definitely affected. And to be fair, taking all of the hundreds of variables across the three games before the ending into account would require an insane amount of programming to create the many different cutscenes that would have been required to properly showcase all of your decisions at the very end. Is it a bit disappointing? Yeah, I’d say so. Is it understandable that your past decisions affect certain content in the game besides the ending? I’d also say yes to that. But I can’t speak for everyone. I had a blast playing ME3, and I’ll probably play through it again with a different character. If you liked the first two, you’ll probably like the third. Just be wary of the ending, as it can affect people weirdly.

It should not affect the score.
This DLC wasn’t even suposed to available to standard edition owners, it was meant as a colectors edition exlusive, but Bioware made it avaialble as a paid DLC after its details got leaked.

One more thing: Side-quests couldn’t possibly be more bland in this game. I mean, who thought over-hearing some people talking, getting a quest into your quest log without your knowledge and then finding random items on other worlds was a good side-quest design?

Also Joe, I think you need to make a statement with your review. Nobody else will, and that’s why I keep coming back to your site these many years, and trust you over IGN, Gametrailers and Gamespot. You tell it like it is. That’s why I like you, and it’s why I think everyone likes you.

I don’t think Mass Effect 3 is a bad game at all. But it is not the 9.4 that the game journalism community seems to think it is. It is a 7.5 or an 8.

As an RPG, it is even worse than ME2. The number of dialog options has been drastically reduced. Shepard responds to other NPCs without your consent. When did that ever happen in Mass Effect?! The varying outcomes has also been reduced.

Basically, Mass Effect is a lot more like an “interactive movie with choices” than an RPG.

There is also not a lot of discovery in the game. The environments in this game are freaking awesome. Bioware’s artists are so good at creating a world that you WANT to explore. The problem is that you can’t explore it.

I can’t believe critics will criticize games for having invisible walls and not being able to jump off cliffs in other games… like Kingdoms of Amalur or God of War clones. But when it comes to Mass Effect 3? They don’t even mention it at all. There is so much hypocrisy in game journalism, especially by Kevin Van Ord.

The last thing I want to mention is that the controls are really bad. I cannot stand the “omni spacebar button”. There are just so many times I want to sprint, but I go into cover… and vice versa.

Also, it’s hard to target your powers. Sometimes you cast overload and warp and your cursor is directly over the enemy, but it doesn’t work and hits the terrain in front of it. Sure, you can move the cursor away from the enemy a bit to compensate, but the effect is totally unpredictable. I’ve died on Insanity – not because I play bad – but because I failed to get Overload to work 3 times in a row and then couldn’t do squat about it.

ME3 is a good game, but it’s not great. I don’t know what the deal is with the game journalists.

This person summarizes my thoughts on this issue – and the game – perfectly. If you’re going to use a source like this to factor into your review Joe, this is what you should say. This guy nails it. There are so many good quotes to pull from this article.

As for the review score, it should be about the game, not the BS the corporations make you go through just to play a game.

Reviewing these corporate BS this companies make you do to play would be nice but has a risk of having a lawsuit if they don’t like your comments. :S

As for the ME3 – DLCs.

There could be many reasons why it’s on the disc. I’m not saying you should pay for it but….
Just imagen that it was going to be release with the game but was not finished in time or it was too buggy… so they removed that part from the game but didn’t have time to remove it from the disc or it had gameplay needed for the game. But, if they were going to release it with the game they should have given it freely. (Sadly some corporate douchebag saw an oportunity to make more money. )

I have not played ME3 so I don’t know what the DLC has but I’m assuming it had caracters and maps and the hack was for the Caracter not for the map(s). So probable it was not the full DLC and why you have to download it.

I’ve got to agree with the whole “Corporate Bullshit” seal idea. Maybe a “CORPORATE COMMANDER – SEAL OF CASHGRABBERY” warning would suffice! The only problem is when something is found AFTER the fact – but should be a quick addition with such a badge.

It would probably be the best way to show which games have this kind of shit in them, and which don’t. Sometimes scores of 0-10 just aren’t enough; that’s the reason you decided to start using the Badass Seal of Approval, right?

Asura’s Wrath only got a 6/10, but still earned the BSoA because, let’s face it, that game had some pretty kickass action in it. So if you like this game, but hate the Disk DLC crap, you might as well come up with a new seal to represent your feelings, right?

I see the whole DLC thing as the biggest scam in video game history, therefore I am simply ignoring them, unless they are reaaally good, like Karkand for BF3. DLC’s for “story” games like Assassins creed or Mass effect usually consist of 1 20-30 minutes mission totally not worth any more money.

uhhh, I got Back to Karkand for free with my Limited Edition, which required no extra charge, only to preorder order or buy it first day. And hell judging by the value it has, I woulda paid $15 for it even if I didn’t get it, but I did and I’m damn glad for it. As for Assassin’s Creed DLCs, maybe it’s just me here, but I’ve definitely spent more than an hour on them…but yes, I do think that these ones should have already been on disc as they are story essentials, not for the full outcome but if you needed more info and such. As for Mass Effect 3…I won’t bother buying any of the games, I played the ME2 Demo on PC and PS3 and the animations and stiff gameplay really put me off, no thanks, though I would fully understand how the story might be “super epic” or w/e with rapers coming to earth and all, but the technical side, specially the animation team, really puts me off.

The comment below this was mine I just did not have an account at the time.

The Character was on the disc as they had to change some code regarding the characters for it. This is why it is on the disc.

However the weapon and the mission and basically everything you’re paying for is in the 650 MB download. It should not affect the game score JOE!

Please rate the game without this in mind or have 2 separate ratings. Please! I really want to see what ME3 can score on its own without Extra content. Just the pure game itself. Which is what the review is for.

If possible have a separate review for Ashes

BioWare is not at fault. If at all its EA problem. Don’t down on BioWares game for EA’s mistake!

The Character was on the disc as they had to change some code regarding the characters for it. This is why it is on the disc.

However the weapon and the mission and basically everything you’re paying for is in the 650 MB download. It should not affect the game score JOE!

Please rate the game without this in mind or have 2 separate ratings. Please! I really want to see what ME3 can score on its own without Extra content. Just the pure game itself. Which is what the review is for.

If possible have a separate review for Ashes

BioWare is not at fault. If at all its EA problem. Don’t down on BioWares game for EA’s mistake!

The character is on actual disk, but the mission and conversations propably are on the dlc package. But it still feels weird how so short mission and so little dialog takes up 650mb. Anyhow it’s just EA making more money with all the biodrones. And what is more bullshit is that if the ending was made intentionally this way, so that they can sell the “proper” ending on DLC.

Joe – Javik -the DLC squad mate- was on the game disc and could be unlocked via an ini tweak. The mission to get him was not. EA came up with some blah blah about “you can’t just slot a new squadmate in” so he had to be part of the game. We all know that this was just a way to increase the game price by $10 so EA’s feeble explanations are to be expected.

funny comment over on youtube some guy finally figured out what DLC stands for: disk locked content
very poor management decisions lately over at bioware and theyre going to pay for these sooner or later weather they realize it or not.

Fake! Dude already had dlc downloaded on his pc =P
p.s. maybe hidden folder containing it, idk, i had to download additional 600mb or such for a pc, as you did on the xbox.
More on topic, even DLC is not worth it, HOW THEY WOULD EXPLAIN THE ACTUAL ENDING OF THIS GAME ?! >_< Seriously Joe, this should be a final nail to the coffin of your review

What I wonder is how this falls in under the EULA rights. Same with Capcom. From what I understand, an EULA is a legal contract between the manufacturer and/or the author and the end user of an application. The EULA details how the software can and cannot be used and any restrictions that the manufacturer imposes.

So one of Joe’s arguments is that you are paying for what’s on the disc. Which I am not entirely sure you DO. Aren’t you paying for the rights to use their software?

This is why you can’t alter for example what’s on the disc and then sell it to someone else, claiming it’s your own work.

So what I am basically wondering is that if you are not paying for all that’s on the disc, does the EULA agreement state that you are limited to the content that the developers themselves make available?

Feel free to comment on this one, I am not entirely sure I am going in the right direction here…